


The Five Times The Doctor's Phone Rang and the One Time It Went to Voicemail

by tessagray_herondale_carstairs



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Post-Episode: s02e13 Doomsday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-29
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-15 05:09:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2216922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tessagray_herondale_carstairs/pseuds/tessagray_herondale_carstairs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After their goodbyes on Bad Wolf Bay, Rose Tyler is determined to control her own future, and that means taking charge of her own chances to see the Doctor again. When she realizes that she's left her phone on the TARDIS (along with her favorite purple sweater), she knows exactly what to do, and it might be their saving grace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The One Where Rose Cries

     The day after the Doctor burned up a sun to say goodbye, Rose Tyler decided to take her future into her own hands. No more "hoping" it'd work out okay, no, Rose would _make_ it okay. She wasn't exactly sure how the Doctor had fared after the breach closed, but she knew the loneliness inside his mind, and knew that her absence would only intensify it and mock what he left behind. She knew for a fact that _she'd_ left behind one of her favorite sweaters, along with her heart. Oh, and her phone.

 

     Rose gasped as that stray thought crossed her mind. She hadn't thought about her special phone, the one that could cross time and space and still reach the intended caller. She immediately jumped up, but instead of reaching for the cordless phone on her nightstand, Rose Tyler started pacing.

 

     What if it's out of battery? What if he doesn't answer? So many what-ifs and Rose still refused to let the most heartbreaking of all cross her mind: what if it doesn't work? It had to. She was Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth. Daleks and Cybermen feared her name and goddamn it, so would the phone lines. Time and space would bend for her, if only because they know Rose would bend time and space herself if needed.

 

     Because of the lack of time vortexes, and because eventually her mum had pounded on the downstairs ceiling to stop Rose's pacing, Rose decided to call. She knew the number by heart, after all, and since her heart was already broken, she had nothing to lose.

 

     She dialed, her heart sinking and rising with each button. As she pressed the last number, Rose realized her fingers were shaking. She didn't know if both phones needed to be special, or if the receiving phone's abnormality alone would work. But she knew she had to try.

 

     It rang. It rang and rang and rang, endlessly, and Rose thought she might go mad if it rang for eternity, for she knew she'd never let go, not if there was the slightest chance that her doctor would answer. It might take days, or even months, and Rose Tyler would never give up.

 

     It felt like decades, but there was finally an end to the ringing. A click, and then silence. Rose could hear breathing.

 

     "H-hello?" She said, her voice hitching on that one word.

 

     The person on the other end inhaled sharply.

 

     "Doctor? Is that you?" Her heart stopped as she waited for a reply.

 

     "Yes," he said simply, that one word filling the void that had grown within Rose, making her chest tighten and collapse all at once.

 

     She couldn't help it, she burst into tears.

 

     "Doctor, I’m sorry," she sobbed, "Oh Doctor, help me. It hurts without you. Everything hurts."

 

     "I'm so sorry, Rose, I am, I truly am. I tried to keep you safe." He sounded broken, Rose thought. Broken in half, and bleeding, though he tried to cover it with humor.

 

     "My Doctor," she said again, her voice trembling with sobs.

 

     He tutted, halfheartedly attempting to ease her. "Rose Tyler, are you crying? Careful, I might think I'm important to you!" He teased her lightly, gently nudging her into a lighter conversation.

 

     She sniffled. "Shut up. I just miss you is all."

 

     "Me? Or the TARDIS? Or maybe you miss all the chips I buy you, hmm." The Doctor could feel his spirits rising, he could feel the clouds lifting and the flowers blooming. What an apt metaphor, he thought, because his Rose seemed to be blooming right then.

 

     She scoffed, her breath hitching with the remaining sobs. "You never buy me chips, you cheapskate. I'm the one always buying you things, remember?"

 

     He could almost see her rolling her eyes, and oh how he missed her.

 

     He laughed loudly, freely, and Rose could feel herself aching, wanting to be there with him in that moment so badly she hurt.

 

     "Quite right," he said, and after that there stretched a comfortable silence, neither of them talking, but neither of them hanging up, until Rose's sobs subsided.

 

     Eventually the day grew dim for Rose and her breathing deepened.

 

     "Doctor?" She called out sleepily. "Doctor, thank you." She heard him breathing, but he didn't answer. "I always meant to say thank you, for everything, but I never got around to it, and now-- now, well. Thank you. I miss you, you know."

 

     It was the sixth time she'd told him, but the first she said without bursting into fresh sobs again.

 

     "I know," he whispered softly.

 

     "Will you answer again? If I call?" Uninhibited by sleep, Rose asked the question she'd been wondering.

  
     And though he knew it was a bad idea, though he knew it was the worst idea-- he agreed.


	2. The One Where Martha Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The phone rings, and Martha answers it.

     The second time Rose Tyler called him, the Doctor wasn't in. He literally wasn't. He had run out for a quick peek at some alien matter or something, leaving the TARDIS in Martha's capable hands. He counted on a quick look, some sonicing, and a phone call from Rose. He just didn't quite count on Rose calling while he was gone. And Martha definitely did not count on the phone inside the purple sweater-- unnecessarily and mysteriously placed in the jump seat, she thought-- ringing, startling her out of her careful exploration of the TARDIS console.

 

     "Hello?" Martha Jones was nothing if not efficient and polite. "Hello?"

 

     "Sorry, um, I was calling for the Doctor? Is he there?" The feminine voice sounded very confused, and almost hurt, although Martha thought that the confusion was a bit unfair. After all, she was confused too.

 

     "No, he's stepped out right now. Do you want me to tell him you called, or, I dunno-- leave a message?" Martha's attempt to be friendly was instantly rebuffed.

 

     "No, no, I can see he's busy." The voice had a hard edge to it, now, and Martha wondered what she had done and exactly how angry this woman was with the Doctor.

 

     Martha hesitated. "Is that all you needed?"

 

     Those five words changed the conversation entirely, spinning it on its head and forging a new path.

 

     Rose Tyler gasped. What she needed was to be with her Doctor until the end of time, possibly even further if they tried. But because she was Rose, on Pete's World, and he was the Doctor, she would settle for the answer to what she said next, the burning question that had always kept her up at night, the question that was the reason for her puffy eyes most days, and broken sobs most nights.

 

     "Is he--" The woman hesitated now, and Martha thought again that there was pain in her voice, an undercurrent, even when she was angry. "Is he happy?"

 

     Martha considered this. Was he happy? She knew he had to feel a little bit happy about their adventures, their successes and their triumphs, but she also knew that a shadow loomed over him, one that spoke of nothing but unending loss. She'd seen it on his face when he'd thought she wasn't looking. For some odd reason though, Martha didn't want to tell this strange woman that he was completely and wholly happy. She didn't want to lie.

 

     She answered honestly. "Most days, I think he does his best to keep going. Once in a while he is happy, but mostly, I catch him staring at this purple sweater or the sky above with such a sad expression, I've almost started crying myself. He doesn't know I've seen him-- whenever I'm watching him he's always got a perfectly neutral face." Martha frowned, considering her words yet again. She continued. "Well, except for yesterday. He was genuinely happy, although he wouldn't say why."

 

     The voice on the other end of the line stifled a sob. "You're with him then?" Her voice was wistful and distant, dreaming of once upon a times.

 

     Martha nodded, even though the lady couldn't see her. "Yes. I'm Martha Jones. And you are?"

 

     It was too late. Rose had already hung up the phone, a call ended flashing on the handheld in Martha's hand.

 

     "There we are!" The Doctor came bursting in, smiling widely. Martha could see through it. He was faking it, and he knew she knew. "Told you it was just a matter of analyzing and tracing the source and--" He stopped, noticing her expression. His gaze dropped downward and focused on the phone in her hands.

 

     Martha held it up awkwardly. "It rang." She attempted to be lighthearted, but it fell flat when the Doctor's expression dropped.

 

     "Oh," he said, keeping his voice perfectly neutral. "You answered it then?"

 

     Martha's attempt at a casual smile and shrug failed. "Who was it?"

 

     The Doctor's face held the ghost of a smile. "She didn't tell you?"

 

     "She, er, well. No. Actually, she hung up on me when I asked, so."

 

     "Rose," he said simply, the smile beaming bright for an instant. "That was Rose."

 

     Martha was silent.

 

     The Doctor strode forward and plucked the phone from her hands, slipping it into his inside jacket pocket. He walked out of the main room without a backwards glance, picking up the purple sweater on his way.

  
     That was the first, and last, time the Doctor spoke of Rose Tyler to her.


	3. The One Where They Both Laugh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor answers the phone, expecting an angry Rose. She surprises him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of short and I'm sorry.
> 
> Enjoy!

     From the moment the phone on his console rang its shrill ringtone, the Doctor knew he was in for it. He didn’t pump Martha about her conversation with the stubborn Rose Tyler, but he knew that he would be getting an earful either way, and Martha’s not-so-subtle prodding didn’t help his situation either.

 

     He picked up the phone, glaring at it. His thumb hovered over the green phone button, and he sighed wearily, pressing it.

 

     “Hello?” he said, making a conscious effort not to sound defensive. He missed Rose, he did, but did she expect him to rip the universe apart for her?

 

     He knew the answer-- she did. And he was, he thought defensively, he was going to rip the universe apart. He had to be smart about it if he didn’t want to kill everyone who ever lived first. And how was he supposed to go the many months of studying rips in the universe alone? Rose left a hole in his chest the size of her smile, and laugh, and the way she said his name. She left a hole the size of Gallifrey in his chest, and if he had no one to hold on to, he feared he might let go.

 

     “Doctor.” Rose stated more than said, and he had to roll his eyes at her tone. Even a deaf man could hear the excitement in her voice, the excitement she was failing to cover with anger.

 

     But even further below the excitement lay an undercurrent of pain, one he suspected Martha had detected as well, if Rose had really been as vulnerable as Martha made her sound.

 

     “Rose Tyler!” he exclaimed. “How are you, how’s your mum and Pete? And Mickey, can’t forget Mickey Smith, can we? And what about the baby, has it popped out yet?” He kept up a steady stream of rambles, unable to control the nervous habit of a lifetime.

 

     “Doctor!” she said, giggling slightly at his manic mouth. “They’re fine, they’re all fine.”

 

     “That’s good,” he told her, leaning against the console.

 

     Silence. And it wasn’t the good kind either, the kind that left you feeling content in that there was someone in the universe who shared your essence so similarly that no words were needed. He stared at the tips of his converse.

 

     “How-how are you?” Rose said, clearing her throat slightly. “And uh, Martha?”

 

     “I’m okay,” he said. “Martha’s fine too, she’s just off to see her family right quick.”

 

     Rose hesitated. She knew she could either be mad at the Doctor, and waste whatever precious time she’d get with him, or she could try to let it go, and hope that this Martha would help him heal a little.

 

     Because she was Rose, and she wanted the best for her Doctor, no matter what, she opted for the latter route.

 

     “Will  you--” She paused. “Will you tell me about her, Doctor? About Martha, and everything you’ve done and seen since I-- since I left?”

 

     The Doctor straightened up, his eyes wide. That was not the turn he’d been expecting the conversation to take. But that was his Rose, after all, so kind and forgiving, knowing what he needed before he ever did.

 

     “Of course,” he said, and he could feel the conversation between them becoming more comfortable. Uncharted territory, he knew, but one that they were willing to chart together.

 

     “She’s brilliant, Rose, absolutely brilliant! She was working in a hospital, a physician, when I met her. Of course, that was on accident, I don’t make a habit of walking into hospitals, mind you, but there was this upside down rain, and the next thing I knew, Judoon! Oh Rose, you would’ve loved it.”

 

     He paused when he heard a sniffle, and then he whispered her name.

 

     That was the dam breaking, and Rose was crying all over again.

 

     "I’m sorry,” she hiccupped. “I didn’t mean to cry, I swear I didn’t. I just--I just. It’s a bit sad, you know.”

 

     “I know,” he told her gently. “The Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS. I was going to show you the stars, Rose. The constellations, at their best and their brightest. The universe when it first formed, barely able to control itself. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to.”

 

     “Please don’t be sorry,” she said, crying. “I would never want to take it back, Doctor. Never.”

 

     He laughed. “That’s good, I might’ve been a bit hurt otherwise.”

 

     “Is Martha nice?” Rose asked, her tears subsiding.

 

     The Doctor nodded. “She’s very nice. We met Shakespeare, you know, and he fell for her. Can you imagine, Rose? Shakespeare in love with a girl from the 21st century!” He laughed at that, and was gratified to hear Rose laugh as well, still sniffling, but less so.

 

     “Remember when we met Dickens?” she asked him, a chuckle escaping. “You said you were gonna die in Cardiff!”

 

     They both laughed until their sides hurt, and the Doctor thought to himself that he had never had such a nice time talking to anyone, ever.

 

     Of course, that one reminder of their time together led to even more, and before they knew it, they’d spent four hours on the phone, giggling at their shared moments, bursting into uproarious laughter at some points, like when the Doctor fought the Sycorax and lost his hand.

 

     It took a while for Rose to stop giggling, and it took even longer for the Doctor to have any hope of regaining his dignity.

 

     When Rose finally ended the call, she slept better than she had all week. And Martha noticed that the Doctor, though he tried very hard to hide it, was positively _bursting_ with light. But if he whirled around whistling to himself, well, that was nobody’s business but his own. 


	4. The One Where Jackie Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie calls, and the Doctor answers.

After so many phone calls from Rose, almost daily, the Doctor got a little too comfortable in his habit of just picking up automatically. There was never anyone else calling, never even another phone to possibly be calling from, so his mind connected the shrill ringtone to the warm, buttery tone of one Rose Tyler.

So when it rang, he answered.

“Hello, Rose!” he said cheerfully, swinging his legs from the jump seat he was currently sitting in.

“Don’t you ‘Hello, Rose’ me, Doctor! It’s her mum.”

At those last three words, the Doctor stopped swinging his legs.

“Ah, Jackie,” he said fluidly, standing up and opting to lean against the console. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s what you can stop doing,” she told him angrily. “Stop putting these silly notions into Rose! You know I love you for what you did-- bringing her to me safely time after time-- but if you keep letting her think she’ll get back to you--!”

He inhaled. “We can’t lose hope, Jackie,” he told her quietly. “ _I_ can’t lose hope.”

“Doctor, you said yourself that crossing over again would be the collapse of all the universes! How can you go on telling her that you’ll be together again?” On the last word, Jackie’s voice slid from anger to desperation.

“I _haven’t_ been telling her,” he told Jackie defensively. “Whatever she thinks is her own business.”

It wasn’t fair to Rose, to put all the blame onto her, and he knew it. But what was he supposed to say? He knew he couldn’t tell Rose outright that they’d be together, but he’d certainly been implying they would be. They had to be.

“Doctor, if you keep filling her head with these ideas and thoughts--” Jackie’s anger fizzled out. “It’s going to break her. She’s already crying because of these silly phone calls, and she finally admitted it to me too, when your new one answered, and that was just because of a phone call, Doctor! What are you going to do when she realizes coming back will be impossible?”

He stayed silent, and so did she. Eventually he opened his mouth to speak. “Jackie, I don’t know for sure that getting Rose back will be the collapse of all universes. That’s what would normally happen, yes, but hasn’t Rose proven time and time again that she isn’t the norm?”

“Doctor.” Jackie’s voice brokered no argument.

He exploded. “Well, what do you want me to _do_ , Jackie?” he shouted into the phone. “Tell her she can never see me again? Rip her heart into pieces again? Tell her that these phone calls are nothing more than a silly way to keep pretending we can get back to the way we were-- and that I don’t know otherwise?” His chest heaved with his words, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. “Tell me,” he said fiercely. “ _How am I supposed to do that?”_

"You're a smart man, you'll figure it out!" She flung the words at him, not caring if they hit his face, fit themselves right into his heart and made a home where it hurt most. 

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair impatiently. “I can’t do that to her, Jackie. Not again.”

Jackie’s voice was cold. “I won’t have you leadin’ her on like this, Doctor. I love my Rose too much for that. I know you want to believe you have a chance in hell to get her back, and I know she wants to believe it too, but it’s not happenin’. She loves you, and _these phone calls are killin’ her_. She’ll come back from one totally happy and, sure, we can all breathe a little easier, but that one time your new girl answered? Rose was crushed. One conversation with the girl who replaced her, and she’s on my lap sobbing her heart out, telling me you never cared about her. You crushed her, Doctor,” Jackie said simply. “And I won’t have you do it again.”

The Doctor froze. He didn’t know Rose had cried about Martha answering. He ran his hand through his hair again, tugging on it in frustration. Why the hell didn’t she say anything? Why didn’t she tell him she was so upset? He grit his teeth in anger. Goddamn it. He’d unintentionally broken the heart of the girl he-- well, quite frankly just the best girl he’d ever known since forever, _twice_ , and now he felt like a complete arse.

“Did you hear me?” Jackie shouted at him. “I won’t have you breaking her heart again, do you understand me!”

“I never meant to replace her,” he whispered in shock. He just got so lonely, and Martha was a hand to hold. The loneliest man in the universe, made even lonelier, and the Doctor could feel himself spiralling into madness, soon he’d be just as bad as the Daleks or the Cybermen, soon he’d be begging to become one of them, to feel nothing of the pain and unbearable loss he felt, to feel only the unending hatred or coldness of no emotions. Soon he’d be a shell, just the husk of the man he used to be, the man Rose Tyler believed he could be-- someone better than he really was.

But Jackie Tyler didn’t care about the Doctor’s personal struggles of gloom and depression. “Do. You. Understand. Me?”

 

“Message received,” the Doctor said numbly, hitting the end button, and letting his arm hang limply at his side. 


	5. So Long and Goodnight

Rose Tyler was like a drug. That was only explanation the Doctor had for why, barely a full 24 hours after Jackie called and told him off, he had called Rose. He didn’t know why she hadn’t called him, and he wasn’t even sure that Jackie hadn’t just taken her phone to ensure that he never spoke to Rose again, but he called her, and she answered.

 

Further proof that they belonged together and the universe was wrong, but maybe that was just him.

 

“Hello? Doctor?” Rose said delightedly. He never called her. Sure, he would if she asked, but while she knew he was always in the TARDIS, and some things would never change, Rose had a schedule that unfortunately did. Between outings with her mum for baby clothes and the like, and fish and chips with Mickey, Rose had less free time than ever, and she just knew it was so she could be distracted from the lack of Doctor.

 

“Rose,” he said, ending on a exhale.

 

“Doctor!” she exclaimed. “You’ve never called me before.” Her guard was instantly thrown up, the hard-learned habit of two years--but felt like a lifetime, she thought ruefully-- kicking in, and her voice became suspicious. “Is something wrong?”

 

“No, no,” he said hastily. “You just didn’t call me, is all.” He berated himself, both for the admission of missing Rose and the weirdness of the call.

 

“Ah!” she said, her face heating up. “Sorry, Mum had me running about with her all day.” Rose rolled her eyes. “I love her, but she can be a bit of a pain.”

 

The Doctor nodded sagely. “That she is, your mum.”

 

“Oi!” Rose called out, laughing.

 

He smirked, sitting backwards in the jump seat, hooking his feet around its legs. “How are you, Rose?”

 

“Good,” she told him. “Been better, but… I’m good, now that I’ve got you again.”

 

The Doctor dipped his head in shame. Jackie was right. This wouldn’t end well for either of them. He had two hearts, should be able to withstand more pain, yet here he was, and both of his hearts hurt. Because as much as they liked to pretend and joke about it, Rose didn’t have him again. And not out of choice, because he didn’t have Rose either. Just the universe, cocking it all up for a good laugh at his expense.

 

If only he could keep up the charade. He didn’t doubt his ability to do so, but it wasn’t just his feelings to consider, he knew. There was Rose. Sweet Rose with her pink and yellow colors, and warm laugh and gentle humor that would be the balm on his bad days. How could he hurt her more than he had-- more so than when he sent her away on purpose?

 

“Doctor?” she said worriedly. “Are you still there?”

 

“Yes,” he told her, his voice just a whisper. It hurt to talk out loud, as if the pain dealt to Rose could be softened along with his voice.

 

“Are you sure everything’s alright?” she asked him, her voice gentle even when he knew she had to be just as hurt.

 

“I just said it was,” he said forcefully, and he knew he’d taken it a step far, when he could hear Rose’s retreat, he could hear her physically take a step back, and he thought, good. Let her think I'm an arse.

 

"Doctor?" she asked fearfully. Rose knew something was wrong, she could feel it like she could feel his hurt and his pain, his longing and all his want for what he had lost. But he was her doctor, and she would protect him until the end. "Doctor, are you sure you're all right?" And he almost had to kick himself for not factoring in Rose, her stubbornness and her prodding that drove him half mad with desire and anger. She'd never let it go.

 

"Yeah," he finally muttered. "Just think I'm coming down with something is all."

 

She laughed a little, but he could hear her worry underneath it all. "You? Is that even possible?"

 

The Doctor shrugged, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Don't know. Lots of funny little viruses and things in the universe and mind you, I have a habit of eating things that aren't food so, who knows?"

 

Rose was of the opinion that he was entirely too cheerful when he said that.

 

"So what happens when you're sick?" she asked him curiously.

 

"Oh, the same thing that happens to you humans; I get the sniffles, the sneezes; I’ll need tea all of the time-- one time your mum would be useful,” he joked lightly.

 

“Yeah.” Rose laughed shakily, not wanting to think about the Doctor needing help and her not being able to help. “I guess Martha would be pretty good for that, huh?”

 

The Doctor exhaled. “Yeah,” he said softly. “She would be.”

 

Silence.

 

“Doctor?” Rose asked quietly.

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Do you ever miss me?”

 

Loaded question, those five words. She knew it was maybe really shallow of her to ask these questions, maybe he didn’t want to answer, maybe he found a new girl, better than Rose, someone who completed her A-levels and had more than the bronze medal in gymnastics.

 

He let out a breath, thinking about the answer. Sometimes he missed her so much that his vision went red, and those were the times that he wanted nothing more than to rip the universe apart in seconds flat like he knew he could, just to see his Rose again. Sometimes he didn’t think about her that much, too busy with the witches and Shakespeare and Martha and then it would hit him again, he would see something he wanted to tell Rose, he would turn around to share it with her, and she wouldn’t be there, and it crushed him because she never would again.

 

But would telling her that he missed her terribly help? His poor pink and yellow Rose, thrust into this life because of an accident, some joke Fate played on her that one day in London.

 

The Doctor thought about this all. He thought about how much Rose had changed him, and how his life had a gaping hole now that she was gone. He thought about how no one would ever replace her, and how he could have a million people next to him and still only want her. He thought about all these things, and more, and then he thought about Jackie and what she had said in her phone call.

 

He knew what he had to do.

 

“Not really,” he said, feigning a light tone. “I’m so busy with Martha now, you know.”

 

Maybe that wasn’t what Jackie wanted him to do, maybe she meant something entirely different. But the Doctor could think of no better way, no explanation on the Earth or Gallifrey that would make Rose Tyler let go of him. He had to cut the tie between them, and he used the rustiest knife possible.

 

Rose started crying, she couldn’t help it. But if he was so busy, he wouldn’t have time to comfort her, and so she did her best to make her sobs as quiet as possible, thinking he couldn’t hear her.

 

The Doctor could hear her sobbing, and he could hear her trying to quiet them, and it broke his heart. Both of them, torn in two, bleeding on the pavement.

 

“I’m sorry,” Rose whispered. “I’m sorry I was bothering you.”

 

The Doctor hesitated. Should he tell her no, it’s no bother, or should he be like, it’s okay, as if she was a bother?

 

His shoulders sagged. He couldn’t hurt Rose anymore. “It’s not a bother,” he said gently.

 

She sighed.

“I like hearing about your day,” he added, some part of him still fighting for him to just break down the walls between his universe and Rose’s, to fight to get her back.

 

“Okay,” she told him, subdued. “I think I should sleep now,” she added. “It’s two am here, you know?”

 

The Doctor smiled sadly. His efforts had gone unrewarded. Rose hadn’t let go.

 

“Goodnight, Doctor,” she said easily.

 

“Goodbye, Rose,” he said quietly.

  
He leaned against the console, staring out into nothing, tears forming in his eyes, but a devastated expression on his face. 


	6. The Final Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a wild ride, haha. I'm so sorry this took me a month, but I really wanted to get it right, and I don't think I would've been satisfied with any other ending. Thanks for sticking with me, guys! Love you all.

“No,” she said aloud. “No. No no no no no no no no no _NO_!” Rose screamed the last word, staring at the phone in her hand desperately. He couldn’t not answer her, not now where there was so much to say, so much left unsaid, so much Rose had thought there was time for. There was always time, wasn’t there?

 

Rose collapsed to the floor, her knees literally unable to support her. She shook with the sobs threatening to escape her. She sniffled and dialed the phone again. He could be out. The Doctor was always out, always running from something, someone, but never from her. He couldn’t ignore her. She needed him.

 

“Please,” she whispered brokenly. “Please-- answer!” The phone rang and rang, each ring a mockery of the happiness she had felt last time. Her head was spinning, full of rings, nothing but ring ring ring, taunting her. She felt lightheaded, felt that she had to stop crying, had to do something, but what else could she do? What else could she do but keep pressing those buttons, over and over again.

 

~

 

In Rose’s room on the TARDIS, the Doctor hunched in a corner, knees to his chest, fingers plugging his ears, desperately trying to ignore the phone  that kept ringing on the nightstand. He shut his eyes firmly, the ringing never ceasing. She would never stop, and he knew it. He unscrewed his eyes, removed his fingers with a pop, and got up on unsteady feet. It was now or never. He reached for the phone, fingers hovering over the green and red buttons. Their conversations flashed through his mind, all of the good times, all of the best times, but then he remembered Jackie. Dear Jackie who only wanted one thing from him, and it was her daughter. He remembered Bad Wolf Bay, and Rose’s phone call after Martha picked up. He remembered it all.

 

He remembered and he pressed the red button, holding it down until the phone shut off with a sigh and a click. He tucked it in his jacket pocket mechanically, and left the room without a look back, locking the door behind him.

 

~

 

Rose called and called, all the calls blurring together until eventually she realized that she wasn’t even getting ringing anymore, no, that was all in her head. It was just going straight to voicemail. He had shut the phone off, or it had died, but either way, she wasn’t going to get an answer.

 

“Doctor,” she said, at the tone, recording her message. “Doctor, what are you doing? Where did you go? Doctor, please! Don’t leave me all alone! DOCTOR!” She wailed the last part, hitting the end call key and letting all the tears flow out of her eyes, sobbing until she had nothing left in her.

 

~

 

It was two hours later when Jackie found her, a small heap on the hardwood floor, dried out but still managing to find enough moisture to cry.

 

“Sweetheart,” she said, rubbing Rose’s back. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

 

“Th-the Doctor,” Rose sobbed brokenly. “He’s not answering me anymore. He’s not answering me, Mum, what do I do, he’s not answering, he’s turned the phone off and he’s told me he’d always answer, he’d always be there and where is he, God, where is he, Mum, he needs me, he _needs_ me! He needs me, he needs me, he said he’d answer, he promised,” she chanted, each chant broken up with small pauses and hiccups.

 

Jackie couldn’t bring herself to say anything; instead she sat there with Rose, silently, until the day broke.

 

Rose was still shuddering with sobs when Jackie left to go to work, and her entire body felt sore and dried out. Rose’s heart was broken, but she was still Rose Tyler. Time and space had bended to bring her to the Doctor time and time again, and if time and space had refused her this one last favor-- thanks to the last of the Time Lords-- she would break them. She would break the laws, and make _him_ come to her.

 

Her work at Torchwood-- although it had been very much neglected since the phone calls had started-- would be handled much more efficiently, she decided. She had yet to overhear plans to begin construction of a dimension cannon, so she would start building one herself. She would find the Doctor. She would find him, and then everything would be okay.

 

After all, she was Rose Tyler.

 

~

 

“You. Have. One. New. Voicemail.” The automated voice said when the Doctor checked the voicemail for the fifth time in five days.

 

“Doctor, it’s me again. I don’t know why I keep calling, because you never answer, and these are probably just building up storage in that tiny little phone of mine, but I just wanted to tell you about my day. My work at Torchwood’s going well, they say I have promise to lead the committee I’ve been waiting to gather. Tomorrow’s the review day, when they’ll tell me if they’ve approved it or not. Little do they know, I’ve already started the plans for it, haha. I’ll call you again later, bye!”

 

The Doctor pressed a button.

 

"Message. Saved."

 

He slid the phone into his jacket pocket with a sigh, his mouth downturned but his eyes crinkling at the corners.

  
Same old, same old. 


End file.
